Slumping Crew tries to reverse its fortunes

Wednesday

Sep 28, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 28, 2011 at 8:56 AM

For the third straight season, the Crew is stumbling down the stretch. Once considered a lock to make the playoffs, the Crew likely needs two wins in the final four games to lock up a postseason spot, coach Robert Warzycha said.

Shawn Mitchell, The Columbus Dispatch

For the third straight season, the Crew is stumbling down the stretch.

Once considered a lock to make the playoffs, the Crew likely needs two wins in the final four games to lock up a postseason spot, coach Robert Warzycha said.

A chance for one of those wins comes tonight against Sporting Kansas City in gleaming new Livestrong Sporting Park. The teams are tied for second place in the Eastern Conference with 41 points apiece.

It is a crucial game that weighs heavy in the drum-tight East, where four points separate the top six teams. The top three will advance to the conference semifinals. One or two more East teams are likely to earn wild-card spots.

"This is going to really test us," Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers said of the final four games. "We're going to see what we're made of."

In recent weeks, the Crew has consisted of a Swiss-cheese defense and an ineffectual attack. Columbus is 0-4-1 and has been outscored 14-6 in its past five games, its worst five-game stretch since 2005.

The late-season swoon was more easily explained in the previous two seasons. From August to October of 2009 and 2010, the Crew was forced to weather the rigors of the six-game CONCACAF Champions League group stage in addition to its league schedule.

Los Angeles and Seattle have continued to win through the double-duty schedule this season, but fellow Champions League qualifiers Colorado and Dallas have felt the effects of the continental tournament.

Dallas (1-4 in its past five games) and Colorado (0-3-2) have struggled of late, but no MLS team has earned fewer points in its past five games than the Crew.

With a congestion-free schedule, why the drop-off?

"Some injuries and some unfortunate bounces," Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer said. "You are not going to be in top form all year long."

Injuries are not a hollow excuse. The Crew was recently boosted by the return of defenders Danny O'Rourke and Shaun Francis from long-term injuries, but steady workhorse Eddie Gaven has missed seven games because of a frustrating leg contusion and remains out. Rich Balchan, once a rookie of the year candidate, has been derailed by groin and oblique injuries.

A variety of injuries has limited the Crew's preferred strike pairing, Emilio Renteria and Andres Mendoza, to three starts together.

But bad luck and injuries are not the only reasons for the Crew's fall from the top of the East. There has been:

• Mediocre flank play: With Gaven on the sideline, Rogers and Dilaver Duka have not provided the production needed from the midfield.

• Questionable goalkeeping: Hesmer acknowledged he has been in a slump since the Crew lost 6-2 at Seattle on Aug. 27, but said he felt like his old, reliable self during a 1-0 loss to Los Angeles on Saturday.

• Slumping defenders: A formerly rock-solid back line has hung Hesmer out to dry. Right back Sebastian Miranda, a lockdown defender in the first half of the season, has struggled without Gaven's two-way play in front of him on the right side.

• Poor finishing: The Crew ranks seventh in shots but 14th in goals. Mendoza has 11 goals but can't score on the road (one goal away from Crew Stadium).

All must improve if the Crew is going to contend for the MLS Cup. A young team prone to mistakes must cut down on its gaffes and finish its chances.

"Tactically, we can only do so much," Warzycha said. "And just because you play hard doesn't mean you're going to be rewarded with something."

smitchell@dispatch.com

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